05 · DIRECTOR’S NOTE
A personal perspective
The idea behind *Beauty Queen* was crazy from the very beginning. Sonja Welter wanted to play a schizophrenic woman who slowly loses her grip on reality in her obsession with becoming a beauty queen. I immediately loved the concept. I expanded the screenplay with a serial killer and several unexpected twists. What began as a psychological character study evolved into a thriller where reality and delusion become increasingly impossible to separate. For the first time, Sonja was not only the lead actress, but also co-producer and co-writer. Working together brought a unique energy to this film — and it was a lot of fun from start to finish.